Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Bodfish, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Bodfish in the 24 hours to 5:40 am PST (13:40 UTC). The last one was M 1.7, 10 km (6 mi) SSW, at 3:38 pm PDT on 30 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Bodfish
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 23 km (15 mi) east-southeast of Bodfish, CA, at 5:08 pm PDT on 19 May 2023 (00:08 UTC), 9.0 km deep.
USGS: 23km ESE of Bodfish, CA
71 km (44 mi) ENE of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 5:08 pm PDT on 19 May 2023 ()
- Where
- 23 km (15 mi) east-southeast of Bodfish, CA · earthquakes near Bodfish
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 9.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 45 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Southern Sierra Nevada fault, 20 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1272 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Bodfish, CA
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Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Bodfish, 23 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Weldon, Lake Isabella.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 lb of TNT
Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.0 on 2021-08-27 — about 4,700 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 38 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.7 12km NW of California City, California · 35 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.6 19km N of Tehachapi, CA · 27 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.6 14km NNW of Tehachapi, CA · 33 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.5 22km N of Tehachapi, CA · 25 km SW of this epicentre
Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.
Where
Epicentre 35.4842, -118.2665. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 45 km (28 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 95 km (59 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 3.5 12 km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.6 13 km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.5 14 km W of Mojave, CA
- 1.8 15 km WSW of Little Lake, CA
- 2.0 32 km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.7 8 km SE of Tehachapi, CA
- 2.4 25 km SSW of Bodfish, CA
- 1.6 12 km ENE of Kernville, CA
- 1.9 13 km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.7 13 km W of Mojave, CA
- 1.6 21 km ESE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.7 13 km SE of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.7 25 km SW of Bodfish, CA
- 1.6 13 km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 2.1 24 km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.
On USGS
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.